It's a move that's being hailed tonight by a city group that's been raising money to help keep the lights on.

City Councilman Brad Koplinski was able to get another $70,000 added to the next year's budget giving the city $200,000 to keep street lights on at night.

Lighten Up Harrisburg, a volunteer group formed last March, donated $7,000 to relight the Walnut Street bridge and repair and replace dozens of street lights in the city's Allison Hill.

"One thing I hear about more than any other concern in the city is the street lights that are out," Koplinski said. "This is about core services to the city. Police, fire, trash, streets lights. All of these things were kept at the same level or enhanced. "It's a huge safety issue."

And one the city's been getting help with for the last year.

"We're extremely excited to hear (the city) has added $70,000 to the budget line items, but the reality is we know the city's situation," said city treasurer John Campbell.

Campbell said the Lighten Up Harrisburg organization will not give up fundraising to help Harrisburg keep its street lights on.

"There's a long number of statistics that shows there's a direct correlation between lighting and crime. We know crime rates in Harrisburg are not the best, so we want to be able to impact what we can through lighting initiatives."

Campbell said Lighten Up Harrisburg will continue working with the city and others identifying areas where lights can best help to reduce crime.

Lighten Up Harrisburg has another $5,000 in donations it will be using to replace or add lights to areas most in need.

Copyright 2012 byWGAL All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.